TWO GLOWING PERFORMANCES – Samantha Petracca makes her Harwich Junior Theatre debut in the title role of The Little Princess: Sara Crewe under the watchful eye of the head of Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies, played by Diane Wadsworth.

Reading is fundamental in HJT production

The classic Victorian story “The Little Princess, Sara Crewe,” based on a 1905 children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, has been told in several different incarnations, including a 1939 film starring Shirley Temple. Although some versions make significant changes to the storyline, the Nancy Seale adaptation being performed at the Harwich Junior Theatre stays true to important details of the original tale.

Raised in India by her wealthy and adoring father, Sara struggles to adjust to a new life in London at Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies. Impressed by her father’s riches and hoping for his favor, Miss Minchin lavishes Sara with luxuries and privileges, though the little girl retains her sweet nature, generosity and love of reading. Poor Sara’s fortune takes a dark turn as she is orphaned, and Miss Minchin’s doting attitude turns dark as well, until a complex series of unforeseeable events once again changes Sara’s destiny for the better — a bleak existence is transformed into a world of limitless possibility for the imaginative young Sara Crewe.

Director Rob Zapple praises the play’s messages for young audiences.

“It is established very early on that Sara is an avid reader and has chosen in her life to find great adventure and escape through books,” Zapple said. “She ignites the interest of all the girls in the school and shows them just how wonderful books can be. She also acts out stories that she learns from books and really fires up the other students’ imaginations. She’s a positive force in the girls’ lives. Even after her fortune changes for the worse and she must live in the attic with the maid, Becky, the girls still seek out her company. They start sneaking up during evenings so that Sara can tell them more stories and read books to them, and also just because she’s a good person, still a favorite of everyone.”

Six songs add to the lively tone of the story, including “You Can Always Get Away in Books,” sung by bookish Sara to the other girls, and “Suppose,” in which she muses over her fate and manages to keep hope alive in her darkest hours, wondering, “…Suppose things could be better… suppose I really am a princess.”

“What’s clear throughout is that Sara treats everyone that she meets with tremendous respect,” said Zapple. “She explains that everybody has a story. If you think your life is boring, it’s not. You’re a story. I’m a story. Miss Minchin’s a story, as she says in one of the songs. It teaches a subtle yet clear message to young girls and boys that they are important. Their lives are important and hold interest to other people.”

The cast is made up of a mixture of familiar faces and a few newcomers, including 12 talented young actresses between the ages of 10 and 14. Thirteen-year-old Samantha Petracca, who plays Sara Crewe, is performing on the Harwich Junior Theatre stage for the first time.

“She’s a wonderful singer with so much personality,” said Zapple. “She’s a very giving person, similar to the role she’s playing, and is becoming an instant favorite. It’s a privilege to see young actors and actresses at this age step into something like this and develop their acting and singing skills right there in front of you, to see it kind of blossoming. That describes exactly what’s happening with Samantha at this point. She’s just wonderful. A real delight.”

Diane Wadsworth, as Miss Minchin, played Aunt Polly in Tom Sawyer, the first play Zapple directed at HJT some 24 years ago.

“She is over the moon! Terrific,” he gushed. “She was born to play this role. She gets all the colors of this character, and I’m delighted to be working with her again. And I’ve got Kaijsa Brindyr as Miss Amelia, another Cape Cod favorite, Ed Etsten, as Mr. Carrisford, and a wonderful young actor named Josh Coleman as Ram Dass. I’m delighted with him – he’s strong, noble and has a very calm approach. It’s a delight working with him.”

Zapple says young actors and actresses are increasingly making the trek from father away than the mid-Cape neighborhood that HJT calls home. He has a theory as to what brings them from Sandwich, Bourne, Falmouth and even farther away to take part in shows at HJT.

“I think it’s just more evidence of the great job that artistic director Nina Schuessler has done here, raising the profile of this theater,” he said. “We get performers from all over the Cape to take part in these programs. It’s wonderful, and such a great payoff for all the years of high-quality work that Nina has done to attract those kinds of people.”

A Victorian story of tangled fortune with a contemporary dose of humor and song, Little Princess also features choreography by Michele Zapple, music direction by Robert Wilder, set design and lighting by Jim Byrne, and costumes by Robin Gelnor.

The Little Princess, Sara Crewe is at Harwich Junior Theatre in West Harwich through July 31. Performances are Monday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Friday and Sunday at 4 p.m. For tickets, go to www.hjtcapecod.org or call the box office at 508-432-2002, ext. 4.